United Kingdom

UK - Gas producer BOC has blamed a £24m drop in its profits on increased liabilities in its pension fund.

UK - Two men have pleaded guilty of defrauding the Inland Revenue through a pensions liberation scam.

UK - Hewitt Bacon & Woodrow has added four new consultants to its investment team: Andrew Chapman, Colin Campbell, Sean Daykin and Nick Duff.

UK - Unmarried couples within public sector schemes will get the same rights as married couples, if a private member's Bill is passed.

UK - Car workers at Peugeot's plant at Ryton near Coventry have voted to take strike action in a dispute over pensions and pay.

UK - Inland Revenue plans to impose a lifetime pensions limit of £1.4m will force firms to revamp their benefit packages, consultants claim.

UK - Green Paper proposals offer little hope of regaining benefits for short-changed members of schemes with insolvent sponsors, OPAS claims.

UK - Unions are backing OPAS calls for the government to regulate independent trustees and "weed out cowboys" who charge exorbitant fees.

UK - An overwhelming majority of MPs back compulsory pension contributions by workers and employers, a survey by Axa shows.

UK - Standard Life Investments has joined the Institutional Money Market Funds Association.